Operation Gardel was the codename given by the Peronist guerrilla organization Montoneros involving the downing of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules during takeoff from the old Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport on 28 August 1975. The target was a military intervention transporting 114 Gendarmerie personnel to Tucumán province.
Background[]
The plan involved detonating an explosive charge, shaped like a conical tip, strategically placed beneath the runway when C-130E TC-62 reached full throttle during takeoff. A disused sewer near the runway, connected to a storm drain, served as the location for the explosive setup. A cable, running through a 250-meter tunnel, linked the charge to a parked vehicle's 12V battery. The activation switch was situated in a nearby pit. This meticulously planned operation, hailed as a "masterpiece of military engineering" by Montoneros, required at least six months of preparation, using a forked branch as a benchmark to calculate the plane's trajectory.[1]
Incident[]
TC-62, departing from El Palomar Air Base, carried 85 Argentine Federal Police members and landed at Benjamin Matienzo International Airport. After refueling, 114 National Gendarmerie members boarded for their leave, with the next leg scheduled for San Juan. During takeoff at around 13:00, an explosion occurred, creating a 12x2-meter crater 100-150 meters in front of the C-130. The aircraft, 12-15 meters above the ground, caught fire, tilted, and crashed 400 meters down the runway. The blast killed 5 gendarmes and wounded 29, including 6 crew members. One unhurt crew member attempted rescues but succumbed to asphyxiation later.[1]
Templar involvement[]
Operation Gardel was part of Operation Independence, itself one of the beginning phases of the Dirty War, a Templar-conspired series of events which, among other things, led to the 1976 Argentine coup d'état.[2]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (photo only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Operation Gardel on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Rifts: Cluster 5, Puzzle 2